Haunted (5 page)

"Oh? Like what?" Kestan didn't think the book was all that
difficult to grasp.

"What's a kiss?"

Dear gods, how Kestan wished the boy had asked him about the ogres or
the magic or anything else in the story other than that! Kestan knew
he was weak, but for the boy to ask so guilelessly like that, it was
as if he knew all of Kestan's weaknesses already.

"A kiss. It'll probably be easier if I show you." Merciful
gods, what was he saying! The boy should run from him as fast as he
could before Kestan's own perversions ruined Aedyn altogether.

"All right," Aedyn nodded, setting the book on the bedside
table and settling back on his stool. "Does it hurt?"

"It shouldn't, no," replied Kestan, sliding out of bed and
kneeling down on the floor in front of Aedyn's stool. He had to look
up at Aedyn, who was looking down at him with an air of expectation.

"A kiss is when two people who like each other very much press
their lips together." With that, Kestan leant up and pressed a
soft kiss to Aedyn's lips. He pulled away quickly, before he got too
caught up in the taste of them.

Aedyn glanced down at him, his fingers trailing along his lips. "Oh,"
breathed Aedyn. "That was so soft. So does that mean you like
me? Because you kissed me?"

"I do like you, Aedyn. Very much."

"No one's ever said that to me before."

Those green eyes were hooded with sadness and Kestan wanted to do
everything in his power to make Aedyn happy. He resolved then and
there to write to the earl. Even if the investigations merited his
own arrest, he couldn't allow Aedyn to remain locked up in the house
that should have been his. No matter how he thought he might be
feeling; he knew that he had to send Aedyn as far away from him as
possible.

"I'll be able to leave soon, won't I, Kestan?"

"You will, Aedyn. The demon will get his dues, I promise you
that."

"Thank you. Are you an angel sent to save me?"

An angel? Oh, if only Aedyn knew how far Kestan had fallen! Would he
be so keen to spend time with him? Trust him?

"I'm not an angel. I think it's time we said goodnight now."

"Will you kiss me again?" Aedyn asked shyly, leaning down
to his mouth. Kestan couldn't deny him, even though he knew he
should.

He nodded and brought his head up to Aedyn's. This time it was Aedyn
who initiated the first press of lips. They were as soft as eiderdown
and Kestan spent minutes just mapping the shape of them with his lips
and tongue. Aedyn made a strange noise, leaning against him and
wrapping his arms around Kestan's neck, as if he had been born to
enjoy this. Kestan trailed his tongue along the seam of Aedyn's lips,
both wanting Aedyn to open his mouth and wanting to be denied entry
at the same time for if it happened, Kestan didn't know how he would
control himself. His passion was rising further with every second
they spent kissing and he knew he had to stop. It was a wrench
pulling his mouth away, but he had to do it. He stood, putting as
much distance between himself and Aedyn as possible.

Aedyn glanced up at him, his eyes glazed over, his cheeks flushed;
Kestan had to stifle a groan. The boy looked delectable.

"I feel strange, Kestan," sighed Aedyn standing up and
wrapping his arms around Kestan's waist. "Is that – is
that meant to happen when you kiss?" Aedyn looked down at his
groin. "Is it meant to get hard like that?"

"Sometimes it does," Kestan managed to croak out somehow.
Of course Aedyn would have questions. He'd been locked up for years,
who would have told him these things? Certainly not Grunhall. He had
no friends to experiment with either, having never been away from
Grunhall Abbey.

"Can we kiss some more? It feels so nice." Aedyn stood on
tiptoes and tried to reach Kestan's mouth.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Aedyn." Kestan pulled
away slightly.

"Oh. But you said you liked me. You do like me, don't you?"
Aedyn reached out to caress his cheek and Kestan was almost lost to
the passion. He took a shuddering breath and pulled out of Aedyn's
embrace.

"Aedyn, you must go. Please. Please."
Before I might
hurt you
. Kestan closed his eyes and when he opened them again,
Aedyn had left the locked room as silently as he had entered it. How
did he do that? Aedyn was too solid to be a ghost, but how could he
get into locked rooms and out of them again without the key?

Kestan took a few calming breaths, but they did little to help his
wayward body. It had been so long since he'd been with a lover that
lust coursed through him at the taste and scent of the young man
who'd just been in his room. Heat filled his veins, pooling in his
belly and lower still, and his erection was so hard it was almost
painful. He was too aroused to even make it to the bed; Kestan stood
by the side of it, yanking his nightshirt up around his thighs with
one hand.

In his fantasy, Aedyn was sitting on the stool and his mouth was
around Kestan's cock, licking and humming contentedly as he licked
and sucked as if Kestan was a delicious sweet. Kestan stood over the
stool Aedyn had so recently vacated to better realise the fantasy.
Used to keeping the sounds of his passion hidden in case someone
found out, Kestan was silent except for the odd muffled groan as
desire welled up in him again and again.

With the other hand, he stroked his shaft as quickly as he could, his
legs trembling with need as he sought the peak of his completion. It
didn't take long, four or five strokes and he was there, spilling
himself over his hand. Some seed dribbled down and collected on the
seat of the stool Aedyn had been sitting on. Kestan stared at it,
gasping for breath. It had been a strangely unsatisfying climax. His
own hand couldn't compare with the person he wanted.

Aedyn.

*

Aedyn made his way back to his tower prison, wondering at what had
happened and how soon he could make it happen again. Kissing Kestan
was wonderful; he didn't know why the man had been so reluctant to
continue. Kestan had said he liked him and that people who liked each
other kissed to show that. Aedyn felt a strange yearning for
something, but he wasn't sure what it was for. As they'd kissed, he'd
felt on the verge of something, but they had stopped before it
happened. Is that why Kestan had stopped? Did he know what was going
to happen and was it bad? Aedyn didn't think anything bad could come
from kissing Kestan, it had felt too good to be something bad.

Aedyn would just have to convince Kestan to kiss him some more.

As he lay down on the floor of his prison and settled down to sleep,
he dreamed of Kestan's kisses and of strong arms around him, stroking
him.

Aedyn woke in the middle of the night to find his nightgown and his
thighs sticky, but he didn't relate it to his dreams, not then.

When the demon saw the state of his clothes next morning, Aedyn knew
it was not going to be a good day.

Chapter Six

Kestan had written to the earl but had yet to hear anything back from
him. Perhaps the earl just wasn't interested in the fate of a young
man he didn't know, for Kestan hadn't mentioned anything about Syldas
and Jessamyn, wanting to leave that revelation to the young lady if
she wished to make it known. It was not Kestan'ss place to discuss
it.

Aedyn came to his room every evening for his reading lessons, but as
much as he pleaded for them to kiss some more, Kestan had to refuse,
not trusting himself. Knowing how innocent Aedyn was in such matters
was making it all the worse to deny him. Kestan had many daydreams
where he would initiate Aedyn into the arts of pleasure and the boy
was so grateful for it that he would spend his whole life with Kestan
as his companion and lover. It was just a dream, for people like
Kestan, there were no such things as long-term lovers. There was
sometimes pleasure in assingations, but by nature they were fast and
fleeing so as not to get caught.

One night shortly before the winter solstice, Aedyn didn't come for
his reading lesson. Kestan wondered if perhaps Aedyn was punishing
him for not kissing him by not turning up at all. It was unlike Aedyn
to be vindictive though, and Kestan wondered if perhaps Grunhall had
hurt Aedyn so much this time that he was unable to move. There was
nothing else for it, he was going to have to get to the bell tower
and get Aedyn out of this house once and for all, earl's letter or
no.

Kestan lit a candle and opened the door of his room before peering
out into the corridor. The house was silent; everyone else seemed to
be in bed, which was good for him to be able to sneak around. He took
his time going downstairs, creeping as quietly as possible. He headed
straight to the scullery and the rubber boot that stood by the back
door where he'd seen Mistress Merlia placing the key, for he knew the
front door was always locked and bolted every night by Garom. The key
scraped in the lock and Kestan held his breath, wondering if the
noise would bring someone running. After a few minutes, he realised
it was only his own panic that made it seem as if every slight noise
was one of the household out to catch him. Once outside, Kestan ran
across the grass around to the side of the house where the bell tower
was situated.

The tower was at least seven stories tall, dwarfing the house it
stood next to. Kestan tried the handle and grunted in frustration
when he discovered it was locked. He had no idea where the keys to
the tower were kept. If Grunhall was so keen to keep his nephew's
existence a secret, Kestan wouldn't be surprised if the man kept the
key on his person at all times. It would be one sure-fire way to keep
his secret: that he'd kept his very much alive nephew locked up in a
tower. Kestan tried shouldering the door a couple of times, but he
knew it was futile. The wood had been reinforced with metal studs and
plates and there was no way he was strong enough to batter it in like
that. How was he supposed to rescue Aedyn when he couldn't even get
in?

After locking the back door behind him again, Kestan made his way
back to his bedroom and sat on the stool, thinking. If Aedyn had been
able to get into this room from the tower, then surely Kestan should
be able to do the reverse? He didn't bother with the door, knowing
Aedyn had never used it. Kestan began by lightly tapping along all
the walls, hoping no one else could hear him. The wall closest to the
window sounded different: hollow. Was there some sort of secret
passage behind the walls? Old houses were rife with those. The King's
Palace had a few secret passages; young Prince Tarile had frequently
used them to escape the palace and his lessons.

But how to get into this one? There was no convenient switch or
bookcase; in fact that wall seemed as smooth as the rest of them.
Kestan ran his hands up and down, but it felt as seamless as the rest
too. He cursed when his finger caught on a nail about half way down,
but as it did the wall slid aside with a 'whoosh' and he was faced
with a set of stairs. Although he had anticipated finding such a
passage, he was still slightly shocked when faced with the evidence
of its existence. Where did those stairs go?

As soon as Kestan stepped inside the wall slid back into place and he
was pitched into darkness; he'd left the candle flickering away in
his bedroom. He took a deep breath and groped his way along the
stairs, his footsteps muffled by dust. Cobwebs caught at his face,
making him shudder, but soon he could see a light up ahead and feel
wind on his face. Kestan climbed up a narrow staircase open to the
air, the wind buffeting his hair around his face as he climbed higher
and higher. By the time he reached the top, he was out of breath and
feeling a bit light headed. He emerged onto the top of the bell
tower; there were railings around all four sides of it. The full moon
made it bright enough to make out things quite clearly. Frost
glittered on the wooden floor and on all the surrounding struts and
railings.

And there, tied to one of the wooden struts of the railings was
Aedyn, hanging limply from the rope. Even from this distance Kestan
could see that the back of Aedyn's nightshirt was stained crimson.
The boy was moaning and whimpering softly, as if he didn't want
anyone to hear. One of his arms was at a strange angle, almost bent
backwards at the elbow. Kestan rushed over to untie the ropes binding
him. It was then that Kestan saw the iron collar and cuffs around
Aedyn's neck and wrist: iron impeded magic. Aedyn was a mage! One who
hadn't been through the trauma of having his magic ripped from him.
Grunhall knew his nephew was a mage; why hadn't Grunhall gone to the
authorities? Aedyn could have been impriosned for still having his
magic intact. But even being a mage was no threat to his inheritance,
Aedyn would still have been the Duke of Sapphire Lake after his
father. No, the only way for Grunhall to inherit was if everyone
thought Aedyn was dead. Kestan was just surprised Grunhall hadn't
resorted to murder in his greed.

Aedyn screamed, unaware of who was behind him as Kestan tried to free
him. "Please! No! I'll be good! I'll be good!" He was
sobbing and shaking as Kestan did his best to untie him, a task made
more difficult as Aedyn struggled against his bonds.

"Ssh, Aedyn. It's Kestan. I'm going to get you out of here."

"K-Kestan?" Aedyn tried to turn his head, but even that
seemed too much of an effort and it slumped forward onto his chest,
softer whimpers still escaping him.

The knots took a while to undo and when Kestan finally did manage to
free Aedyn's hands, the boy winced and cradled his left arm with his
right. Kestan suspected it might have been sprained. As Aedyn turned,
he saw that there were more bruises marring his face and his left eye
was almost swollen shut. His lip was cut and split at the left corner
as well.